Saturday 19 June 2010

Barry returns but England stumble

Gareth Barry made his desperately-anticipated return to the England team last night in Cape Town, but could do nothing to prevent England drifting to a disappointing 0-0 draw.

Playing just in front of the back four, Barry was excellent in the first half. He tracked runners from midfield, retained possession - allowing the full backs, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard to get forward - and moved the ball forward quickly at times. He looked surprisingly comfortable. As it happened, no one playing in front of Barry managed to rise above the pathetic and so England put in their worst performance in years.

Barry should play against Slovenia, though it is unclear who will partner him in midfield.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Didn't Abdoun come on as sub?